Improvement in projectiles for rifled ordnance



2 Shets-Sheet, 2. A. H. EMERY.

Patented' Oath-28, 1852.

Y .j :L

A. H. EMERY.

Projectile.

Palemed Octl. 28, 1862.

w21/amm ms UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A.' E. EMERY, oF NEW YORK, N. Y. l

IMPROVEMENT INVPRoJecTlLl-:s Fon RIFLED oRDNANcl-z.

` Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,773, dated October 28, 1862.

To all whoml it may concern:

Beit known that I, A.,H. EMERY,a-civil engineer, of N o. 17 W'est Washington Place,

in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Method of 'Constructing Projectiles; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon and making part of this specification, in which like letters represent likepa-rts.

The nature of my invention consists in pro? vidingsub-caliber projectiles having latheads, or of a form approximating thereto, with a soft metallic point of such form as to reduce the atmospheric resistance to the passage of the projectile, and of suchdensity as to cause the center of gravity of the projectile to be in front of i the center oi vol unie; in providing sub-caliber projectiles with a compound metallic sabot constructed in a cheap and substantial manner, which shall hold the center of the rear of the shot inthe axis of the bore,whi1e it transmits to the projectile the entire pressure on the section ofthe bore, shuts 0E the windage, and rifles the projectiles in riile-guns; and in connecting or fastening this sabot to the case or guideband which centers the front part of the projectile, for the purpose of holding the sabot in its proper position during transportation and loading, and forthe purpose of keeping the case or guide-band from being blown from the projectile before the windage is closed or shut oft'.

To enable others skilled in the art to make use of my invention, I will now proceed to describe the construction and use of my projectiles.

' I make projectiles for any gun of such weight as to give the best effect without overstraining the gun from which they are fired, and of the best form for great range and penetration, and to fulfill all theseconditionsthe projectilesmust be sub-caliber, or they would be too heavy, as

they are very long in proportion to their diameters. j

For the purpose of penetrating armor I make the body ofthe shot of steel with the front end hardened, as of wrought or cast iron,with the front end ease hardened. That such shot shall penetrate to the greatest depth, and shall not slip or glance on inclined plates, it is necessary to make the front end flat, or nearly so,

though it may be slightly concave or convex;

ings, where A is the body of the solid shot.

The shot is shown complete, a front end view in Figure 1 and a side view in Fig. 2, where ,one half is complete and the other in longitudinal section, the section being made of the cutting-plane b c, shown in Fig. 1. The body' of the shot A is made of steel hardened at the front end, or of wrought or cast iron,w,ith the front end case-hardened, the latter being the best and least expensive.` 3

Attached to the front end 4of the shot by any convenient method is the soft-metal point B, which has the form shown in the drawings, so that it shall have but little atmospheric resistance, and which is made of any soft metals, either separately or in combination, which give great density with barely suiicient rigidity to withstand the shock of firing without injury before leaving the gun. For this purpose a lead point, with an addition of a small proportion of tin orantimonyis found to be very good. Such points not only reduce the atmospheric resistance, but they have the advantages of increasing the'density of the whole projectileand of rendering the shot more likely to keeppoint on 'by placing the center of gravity-in front of the center of volume,while they increase the penetration by giving a heavy impact blow to the plate, from which .the latter hasno time to recover before there is added to it the pressure of the body of shot proper, and the pressure ou the head of the shot necessary to penetrate the plate is reduced by nearly the whole blow of the soft point, only .a small amount of work being necessary to press the point out of the way, while shell' points and' wood points reduce the density of the projectile, and thus its range, and at the i same time place the center of gravity in the 'rear of that of volume, rendering the shot likely to rotate about a transverse axls, and the wood has the disadvantage of causing the shot to glance on inclined plates, and it acts like or as an elastic cushion between the front of the shot and the plate, reducing the depthofpenetration. The sabot for this shot is made of two pieces of metal, D and E, D being made of sonic hard and ve'ry'irm strong met-al which shall hold the lrear of thevshot in the center of the bore, and transmit to it the pressure of the powder on the section of the whole bore, `and is best-made of steel or wrought or cast iron, while E is made of some soft metal or metals which shall be suiiciently soft to press into the grooves of the riding toshut o the windage and rifle `the shot or shell, either of which may beused as a sub-caliber projectile with one of these compoundsabots. The part E is made sufficiently strong to rifle the shot, and is best madeof brass or'malleable iron, the former being preferable. Were this sabot I) and E all made of one piece of the form here shown,cast iron-or steel couldnot be used, as they would not work well to press into the grooves to shut zusually preclude its use.

off the windage a-nd rifle the shot, and I should then have to use best either brass or wroughtiron; but the expense of a-sabot of this form.

and ofthe requisite strength of either brass or wrought-irouwhen made in one piece would The part E, is forconvenience of transportation and in handling the projectile, fastened usually to the part D. Wood'cannot be well substituted forthis sabot, as the extreme pressure of the gas will always press it through between the shot and sides of the bore with disastrous results; but a wood sabot may be advantageously placed between fthe two parts D and E of the metallic sabot, 'where it acts like an elastic cushion to relieve the sabot of the sudden strain in starting the projectile.

The metallic sabot D E is fastened to the c'a'se or guide-band C for the purpose of retain- 'ing it in its proper position in regard to the projectile A, and for the purpose of keeping Vthe guide-band Gas a case whichmay be used in 'its place from being blown away before the shot starts by the .gas that escapes before the 2 i i i .L

windage is lshot olf. This precaution is necl cssary on account of the extreme lightness of the guide-band or case C, which is used for the purpose of centering the projectile in the bore of the gun, and which is made very light,

as much so asis consistent with the requisite strength.

The sabot is never fastened to the projectile, as it must separate from the latter as soon as it leavesv the gun; but it will be held against the shot suiiiciently rm to rifle it by the entire pressure of the powder.

The sabot is fastened to the guide-band C by the rods a or any other convenient method.

The case or guide-band C as here made is constructed of the Wooden ring 1 andthe brass band 2, fastened together by the rivets 3. This band G may be widened to form an entire case vfor thc cylindrical part of the shot or shell, and is always made light and in-such a manner as to leavethe projectile as soon as the latter l leaves the gun.

The removal of the guide-band C and'sabot from the 'shot when it leaves the gun, reducing the section and exposing a pointed rear of the projectile, very vmuch lessens the-atmospheric resistance.

What I claim .as my invention, and ldesire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. The construction and use of asoft metallic point arranged with a sub-caliber projectile, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and s et forth.

2.' The construction and use ofthe compound I metallic sabot arranged with a sub-caliber projectile, substantially as and for the purposes hereinv described land .set forth.

. A. H. EMERY.

Witnesses: v I

rHENRY T. BROWN, LR. GAWLEY. 

